everyone right now. We’ll do this in two teams of seven. First team is on from now until sunset, the other team is on overnight. We’ll watch the gate and patrol the entire perimeter. Matt, run to Sue and tell her to keep the kids indoors for the day. I’ll go talk to Eddie.”
Matt stalked off, trying to hide his anger. He’d spent so much time hanging around the orphanage to be near Violet that of course Damian would assume he cared about the kids at least a little. But going down there now was just a reminder of what had been stolen from him.
‘Maybe now Damian will kick Eddie out. I knew he was no good. I knew he’d be trouble. We should never have let him in here.’
III.
Eddie wasn’t hard to find. He was out at the south end of the village working on the fence. As Damian neared the work site he heard a woman laugh. Violet was sitting on a nearby rock with a bottle of water while Eddie told her some story of his childhood.
“I’d complain about the number of breaks you two seem to take but I’m always amazed at the amount of work you get done. With a little luck finding supplies we might just get this wall done after all.”
Eddie smiled. “I’m just trying to help.”
“I know. And there is something you can do to help me. You can tell me honestly if you were travelling with another group before picking up the trail of the former Wyoming group.”
Eddie’s smile dropped off his face. “Something happened, didn’t it?”
“Not yet, and hopefully not at all, but you have some explaining to do.”
“I was trapped with some people, back in Utah. We escaped from a ruined building together and sort of stuck together for a while. But I don’t belong to them, I didn’t want to be with them, so I left. I used the chaos at Rapid City as cover and slipped away. I didn’t know they would follow me.”
“Are they a gang?”
“Sort of. They’re complicated.”
“I have time.”
“Have you ever heard of the Chernobyl earthworm?”
“Yes, I have. They say the nuclear contamination of the soil affected the growth of the earthworms there.”
“Yeah, that’s what they say; cell-based mutation through exposure to nuclear radiation. Mostly if just causes cancer like they saw in Japan. This time it didn’t.”
“You’re telling me those twelve people out there are genuine mutants? Like X-Men mutants?”
Eddie glanced at Violet then back at Damian. “Yes and no. I’ve never seen any of them do some of the crazier things from the Marvel universe but they have mutated. They are stronger and faster and their senses are more attuned, each one is different of course, but that’s it at its most basic. And they refer to themselves as Alphas. They probably aren’t the only ones since we weren’t the only city hit by the nukes. There were eight when I left them.”
Damian looked at the wall for a long moment. “They?”
“I’m not one of them, okay. Maybe I got hit by a shit load of radiation, but I’m not them. I’ve been here two weeks now, I haven’t hurt anyone, and I haven’t stolen anything.”
“He’s never hurt me, or any of the children,” Violet said. “Please, don’t send him away. He just wants to be safe, just like the rest of us.”
Damian sighed. “I wish you would have told me but I can understand why you didn’t. I’ll tell them you’re not here but you need to lie low. I’ll get some of the others to come work on the wall, you stay near the center of the village. When they’re gone we will talk about this more. And you were right, there must have been more, because there’s at least a dozen of them now.”
“Thank-you. Really, thank-you.”
Damian scowled and stalked off.
Violet smiled. “Hey, it looks like we have a free afternoon and everyone else is going to be busy. Did you want to head home for a siesta?”
He returned her smile but she saw the strain around the edges. “That sounds wonderful.”
IV.
They walked hand-in-hand to the
Matt stalked off, trying to hide his anger. He’d spent so much time hanging around the orphanage to be near Violet that of course Damian would assume he cared about the kids at least a little. But going down there now was just a reminder of what had been stolen from him.
‘Maybe now Damian will kick Eddie out. I knew he was no good. I knew he’d be trouble. We should never have let him in here.’
III.
Eddie wasn’t hard to find. He was out at the south end of the village working on the fence. As Damian neared the work site he heard a woman laugh. Violet was sitting on a nearby rock with a bottle of water while Eddie told her some story of his childhood.
“I’d complain about the number of breaks you two seem to take but I’m always amazed at the amount of work you get done. With a little luck finding supplies we might just get this wall done after all.”
Eddie smiled. “I’m just trying to help.”
“I know. And there is something you can do to help me. You can tell me honestly if you were travelling with another group before picking up the trail of the former Wyoming group.”
Eddie’s smile dropped off his face. “Something happened, didn’t it?”
“Not yet, and hopefully not at all, but you have some explaining to do.”
“I was trapped with some people, back in Utah. We escaped from a ruined building together and sort of stuck together for a while. But I don’t belong to them, I didn’t want to be with them, so I left. I used the chaos at Rapid City as cover and slipped away. I didn’t know they would follow me.”
“Are they a gang?”
“Sort of. They’re complicated.”
“I have time.”
“Have you ever heard of the Chernobyl earthworm?”
“Yes, I have. They say the nuclear contamination of the soil affected the growth of the earthworms there.”
“Yeah, that’s what they say; cell-based mutation through exposure to nuclear radiation. Mostly if just causes cancer like they saw in Japan. This time it didn’t.”
“You’re telling me those twelve people out there are genuine mutants? Like X-Men mutants?”
Eddie glanced at Violet then back at Damian. “Yes and no. I’ve never seen any of them do some of the crazier things from the Marvel universe but they have mutated. They are stronger and faster and their senses are more attuned, each one is different of course, but that’s it at its most basic. And they refer to themselves as Alphas. They probably aren’t the only ones since we weren’t the only city hit by the nukes. There were eight when I left them.”
Damian looked at the wall for a long moment. “They?”
“I’m not one of them, okay. Maybe I got hit by a shit load of radiation, but I’m not them. I’ve been here two weeks now, I haven’t hurt anyone, and I haven’t stolen anything.”
“He’s never hurt me, or any of the children,” Violet said. “Please, don’t send him away. He just wants to be safe, just like the rest of us.”
Damian sighed. “I wish you would have told me but I can understand why you didn’t. I’ll tell them you’re not here but you need to lie low. I’ll get some of the others to come work on the wall, you stay near the center of the village. When they’re gone we will talk about this more. And you were right, there must have been more, because there’s at least a dozen of them now.”
“Thank-you. Really, thank-you.”
Damian scowled and stalked off.
Violet smiled. “Hey, it looks like we have a free afternoon and everyone else is going to be busy. Did you want to head home for a siesta?”
He returned her smile but she saw the strain around the edges. “That sounds wonderful.”
IV.
They walked hand-in-hand to the
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